The best books out this month

February may be the shortest month of the year, but it often delivers some of the most compelling new fiction. With the year now properly underway and evenings still invitingly dark, February is the perfect time to hunker down with the kind of books that reward long stretches of attention and linger long after the final page.

This month’s releases are full of tension, moral ambiguity and character-driven suspense. From high-octane thrillers to missing-persons mysteries and cosy crime debuts, here are six of the best books landing this month – each offering a great reason to stay up well past your bedtime.

New crime books out this month:

Antihero by Gregg Hurwitz

In the latest instalment of the Orphan X series, Evan Smoak faces a mission that challenges his strict moral code: he wants to find justice for a young woman who was abducted in New York, but she asks him not to resort to his usual lethal methods. High octane and emotionally charged, Antihero adds new depth to Hurwitz’s relentless action thriller, asking whether mercy has a place alongside vengeance.

The Lost Women by Tim Weaver

Nearly two decades after three women vanished while filming a documentary on the Cornish coast, the case still haunts former-journalist-turned-missing-persons-investigator David Raker. When a man disappears following routine surgery, and his wife realises the person beneath the bandages is not her husband, Raker uncovers chilling links between the two cases. With time running out, this tense, dark thriller delivers high stakes and trademark Weaver suspense.

The Pie & Mash Detective Agency by J. D. Brinkworth

When Dev Hooper’s girlfriend, Nellie Thorne, vanishes, it seems like a tragic one-off – until it emerges that she’s the fifth woman with that name to disappear in 50 years. Enter Jane Pye and Simon Mash, an enthusiastic millennial couple taking a private detective night class. Armed with limited training and boundless optimism, they set out to solve a case that has baffled police for decades. The Pie & Mash Detective Agency is a clever and laugh-out-loud funny debut novel from an exciting new voice.

Warning Signs by Tracy Sierra

A father-son ski weekend in the backcountry turns into a fight for survival in this gripping second novel from the author of Nightwatching. As the weather worsens and the adults take no notice, 12-year-old Zach must rely on the survival skills his mother taught him to protect himself from a sinister presence in the surrounding wilderness. Eerie, sharply observed and increasingly brutal, Warning Signs explores the thin line between human threat and natural danger – and which is more frightening.

A Bad, Bad Place by Frances Crawford

Glasgow, 1979. Twelve-year-old Janey Devine stumbles upon the body of a murdered woman on an abandoned railway line – a moment that shatters her childhood overnight. As fear and suspicion ripple through her tight-knit community, Janey and her nana investigate the murder while grappling with grief and town gossip. Told through their dual perspectives, this gritty and tender debut is a coming-of-age whodunnit that places community, loss, and resilience firmly at its heart.

The Exes by Leordora Darlington

Natalie has always wanted a normal life – love, stability, a future – yet each relationship ends in disaster. Specifically, they end with her exes dying in mysterious circumstances. When she meets James, she dares to believe she’s finally safe. But as secrets surface, Natalie is forced to question whether she’s being manipulated or whether something far darker lies within herself. Unsettling and psychologically sharp, this debut thriller thrives on moral ambiguity and uneasy twists.

The pick of the paperbacks

The following titles have already hit the shelves in hardback and are newly available in paperback this month.